A UK zoo has enforced an animal print ban, after visitors clad in tiger-like attire were found to be confusing and upsetting its captive creatures.

Zebra, giraffe, leopard, cheetah and tiger are reportedly among the prints to have been outlawed by Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey.

The zoo has hired people to police the ban, who patrol the area - which recently opened up a 22-acre trail modelled on Africa's Serengeti plains - to ask visitors to cover up the prints before proceeding to to partake in what is essentially a plastic version of a safari.

Punters at the zoo who rock up dressed in leopard spots or zebra stripes are politely told to wear grey boiler suits that are much more soothing to the eye of the tiger - never mind what an elephant (who, according to legend, never forgets a thing) might think. ®